What do you think?
Rate this book
Southern Secrets
SECRET SOCIETY-HIDDEN TREASURE-REBEL GOLD-MURDER
Det. Annie Avants' cousin, Zack, lives in Mena, Arkansas and has come into possession of three hidden journals written by one of his ancestors who was deeply involved with the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret society active before and during the Civil War. The journals spell out the locations of some of the biggest caches of 'rebel gold' hidden by the KGC to fund a second Civil War.
Zachary Isom Avants is a history buff and an avid genealogist who searches throughout Arkansas for the ruins of the many abandoned cabins and homesteads left behind by his ancestors. For years, he has been tracking down these abandoned homesteads, looking for artifacts and information on the lives of his long-dead relatives.
Deep in the Ouachita forests, he comes across a caved-in pit that is the cellar of what's left of a cabin that hasn't been touched for almost 100 years. The site is covered with brush and vines. He almost misses seeing it.
Zack sets up camp next to the pit and begins clearing away the brush. It was a small cabin, but not the typical "sentinel outpost" shack that the KGC used to guard their secret hoards.
When he can safely climb down into the pit, he finds an indentation in the far wall of the root cellar. He carefully digs and finds, hidden inside a small opening, a cast iron skillet with a lid that has been sealed with pitch.
Excited, he takes the skillet to his makeshift table outside and unseals the lid. Inside, wrapped in many layers of oil cloth, he finds three journals. One is a copy of a daybook kept by someone high up in the KGC during the Civil War. The only signature is 'Avants'. The other two journals were penned by Zack's great grandfather, Orris Avants.
Unknown to Zack, the leadership of the modern KGC is aware that these journals still exist, but have never been able to find them. When he and his friend, Luke, discuss the journals at a local cafe in Hatfield, their conversation is overheard by a local old-timer who calls the KGC. The KGC is determined to recover the Journals. Why? They don't know what caches the journals expose, and they don't want treasure seekers finding their hidden treasures.
The American government is also interested in the KGC and the millions of dollars they stole and hid. FBI Special Agent Connor Smith also receives a phone call from the old-timer about the conversation he overheard in the Hatfield cafe. Agent Smith goes on full alert, determined to get his hands on the journals and recover as much of the stolen loot as possible.
Zack finally realizes the significance of his find and mails the journals to his cousin, Annie, in California. He knows he is being followed and that he, his family, and his friends are in danger.
Det. Annie Avants' cousin, Zack, lives in Mena, Arkansas and has come into possession of three hidden journals written by one of his ancestors who was deeply involved with the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret society active before and during the Civil War. The journals spell out the locations of some of the biggest caches of 'rebel gold' hidden by the KGC to fund a second Civil War.
Zachary Isom Avants is a history buff and an avid genealogist who searches throughout Arkansas for the ruins of the many abandoned cabins and homesteads left behind by his ancestors. For years, he has been tracking down these abandoned homesteads, looking for artifacts and information on the lives of his long-dead relatives.
Deep in the Ouachita forests, he comes across a caved-in pit that is the cellar of what's left of a cabin that hasn't been touched for almost 100 years. The site is covered with brush and vines. He almost misses seeing it.
Zack sets up camp next to the pit and begins clearing away the brush. It was a small cabin, but not the typical "sentinel outpost" shack that the KGC used to guard their secret hoards.
When he can safely climb down into the pit, he finds an indentation in the far wall of the root cellar. He carefully digs and finds, hidden inside a small opening, a cast iron skillet with a lid that has been sealed with pitch.
Excited, he takes the skillet to his makeshift table outside and unseals the lid. Inside, wrapped in many layers of oil cloth, he finds three journals. One is a copy of a daybook kept by someone high up in the KGC during the Civil War. The only signature is 'Avants'. The other two journals were penned by Zack's great grandfather, Orris Avants.
Unknown to Zack, the leadership of the modern KGC is aware that these journals still exist, but have never been able to find them. When he and his friend, Luke, discuss the journals at a local cafe in Hatfield, their conversation is overheard by a local old-timer who calls the KGC. The KGC is determined to recover the Journals. Why? They don't know what caches the journals expose, and they don't want treasure seekers finding their hidden treasures.
The American government is also interested in the KGC and the millions of dollars they stole and hid. FBI Special Agent Connor Smith also receives a phone call from the old-timer about the conversation he overheard in the Hatfield cafe. Agent Smith goes on full alert, determined to get his hands on the journals and recover as much of the stolen loot as possible.
Zack finally realizes the significance of his find and mails the journals to his cousin, Annie, in California. He knows he is being followed and that he, his family, and his friends are in danger.
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2014
About the author
Renee Benzaim
15 books26 followersRenee Benzaim was born in Wenatchee, Washington, but grew up in California. She attended college in Modesto and Turlock while living in California, and in Dover, Delaware.
While living in Hawaii, she had the pleasure of working with the top Hawaiian Chefs at two of the beautiful resort hotels on the Big Island.
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel were her first experiences working with Executive Chefs Corey A. Waite and Goran V. Streng. Her job, as their Administrative Assistant, exposed her to all of the recipes and techniques these excellent chefs used to create their culinary masterpieces.
After two years at the resorts, she went to work for Master Chef Sam Choy - Hawaii's Ambassador to the World according to then Governor Benjamin Cayetano - as his Executive Assistant. While there, she assisted Chef Choy in writing two excellent cookbooks as part of his series of cookbooks based on Hawaiian and Pacific Rim cuisine.
During her last 18 months in Hawaii, she took her Paralegal training and then returned to California after an absence of 10 years. She then worked for several years as a Paralegal in California's Central Valley.
She now lives with her husband, Aziz, and their ever-changing collection of stray cats and kittens and is a full-time writer.
CONTACTING RENEE
Renee's Blog| Renee's twitter | Renee's Facebook Page |
Renee's Email: renee@reneebenzaim.com
While living in Hawaii, she had the pleasure of working with the top Hawaiian Chefs at two of the beautiful resort hotels on the Big Island.
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel were her first experiences working with Executive Chefs Corey A. Waite and Goran V. Streng. Her job, as their Administrative Assistant, exposed her to all of the recipes and techniques these excellent chefs used to create their culinary masterpieces.
After two years at the resorts, she went to work for Master Chef Sam Choy - Hawaii's Ambassador to the World according to then Governor Benjamin Cayetano - as his Executive Assistant. While there, she assisted Chef Choy in writing two excellent cookbooks as part of his series of cookbooks based on Hawaiian and Pacific Rim cuisine.
During her last 18 months in Hawaii, she took her Paralegal training and then returned to California after an absence of 10 years. She then worked for several years as a Paralegal in California's Central Valley.
She now lives with her husband, Aziz, and their ever-changing collection of stray cats and kittens and is a full-time writer.
CONTACTING RENEE
Renee's Blog| Renee's twitter | Renee's Facebook Page |
Renee's Email: renee@reneebenzaim.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 28, 2014
This was a Goodreads First Read book.
It had an interesting plot – an amateur historian uncovers three journals that both the FBI and descendants of members of the KGC want – and plenty of twists and turns. For that, I’d give it four stars.
The story is told in simple sentences with somewhat stiff narrative and dialog and much repetition of information. As a result, it read as if it was written for the pre- or young teen market. Or as if English was a second language to Ms. Benzaim.
Some chapter’s ‘high points’ happen not at the end of the chapter as is usual, but in the middle. And any danger the characters were in – except for two incidents – turned out to be nothing, as if Benzaim wanted to put her characters in threatening situations but just couldn’t bring herself to actually endanger or harm them.
Gang member dialog was not realistic. Except for a few lines, they spoke like college graduates. One example: a gang member would have called the fancy wheels on a vehicle ‘rims’ or ‘dubs.’
It was hard to keep track of the speakers in some scenes because Benzaim used too few tags to inform the reader who said what and when she did, it was often late in the conversation. That she also often broke what should have been a single paragraph of dialog into two or more only added to the confusion.
Finally, the ending was incomplete. There was no resolution with the real bad guy forced to pay for his crimes, just a quick wrap-up of the major characters going back to their lives.
All those things dropped Southern Secrets to a 2-star book and that only because of the interesting plot. Otherwise, it would have merited at best 1½ stars.
I won’t be back for any more Annie Avants adventures.
It had an interesting plot – an amateur historian uncovers three journals that both the FBI and descendants of members of the KGC want – and plenty of twists and turns. For that, I’d give it four stars.
The story is told in simple sentences with somewhat stiff narrative and dialog and much repetition of information. As a result, it read as if it was written for the pre- or young teen market. Or as if English was a second language to Ms. Benzaim.
Some chapter’s ‘high points’ happen not at the end of the chapter as is usual, but in the middle. And any danger the characters were in – except for two incidents – turned out to be nothing, as if Benzaim wanted to put her characters in threatening situations but just couldn’t bring herself to actually endanger or harm them.
Gang member dialog was not realistic. Except for a few lines, they spoke like college graduates. One example: a gang member would have called the fancy wheels on a vehicle ‘rims’ or ‘dubs.’
It was hard to keep track of the speakers in some scenes because Benzaim used too few tags to inform the reader who said what and when she did, it was often late in the conversation. That she also often broke what should have been a single paragraph of dialog into two or more only added to the confusion.
Finally, the ending was incomplete. There was no resolution with the real bad guy forced to pay for his crimes, just a quick wrap-up of the major characters going back to their lives.
All those things dropped Southern Secrets to a 2-star book and that only because of the interesting plot. Otherwise, it would have merited at best 1½ stars.
I won’t be back for any more Annie Avants adventures.
October 30, 2015
This was really good, and full of all kinds of things I'm interested in besides murder mysteries. The story is about some private journals from the early 1900's (1919-1921) that detail some activity within the post Civil War South with regards to stashes of money and other treasures intended to help finance a second Civil War and/or a Pro-slavery regime. Word leeks out about the journals and the FBI and the group that are responsible for gathering and guarding the treasures (or their descendants) want them and will do nearly anything to get them, including murder. Annie gets involved when it's her cousin who finds the journals, and a childhood friend is killed in the ensuing mayhem. Really gripping and moving.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews